Five questions with

Laudomia Pucci

Laudomia Pucci – who’s been the CEO of her family’s fashion powerhouse for decades – is one of Laguna~B’s first collectors and a lifetime friend of our founder, Marie. This month, she welcomed our team at Palazzo Pucci n°6, in the heart of her hometown, Florence, a few steps from Santa Maria del Fiore. This is where her family has lived for generations, where the Pucci brand was born and thrived, and where now she meticulously preserves part of her father’s immense archive. Established in 2018, the Emilio Pucci Heritage Hub includes the historical archive (mostly undisclosed to the public), a research center, and colorful installations involving eclectic mannequins wearing striking vintage pieces. Fully decorated with 19th-century immersive frescos, the Palazzo’s interiors are furnished with psychedelic Pucci-patterned armchairs, a highlighter pink moquette, and a series of Chihuly’s glass sculptures. In the Palazzo, Laudomia hosts private tours and events. In a dreamlike dining room, guests would enjoy some of her favorite artisans’ creations, drink from Laguna~B tumblers, and sit on folding chairs designed by Gae Aulenti for the her family.

What’s your relationship with Venice? And with our founder Marie?

Before Laguna~B, Marie was my friend in Paris. She was the first person I knew when I moved there to study at 15. After I finished school, I returned to Italy to attend university and graduated in international politics. However, I would often go to Paris and see the city through her eyes. Marie had a very unique aesthetic sensibility. I believe it resulted from her French upbringing. When she moved to Venice and founded Laguna~B, I think she interpreted her Parisian refined culture, mixing it with a typically Italian flair, disrupting Murano’s monolithic mindset.

You always say that Marie naturally mixed her professional and family lives. Pucci, too, has been a family-owned company for decades. How does it feel to grow up in a family business?

When you grow up in an Italian family business, it is an obvious choice to follow your parents’ professional path. At 23, when I graduated, I wanted to explore the political arena further. However, my father encouraged me to join his company, even though I knew very little about fashion. Gradually, I began to understand the secrets of successful fashion founders like my father. He could do it all: textile design, fittings, color sampling, client relationships, prices, sales, and any detail of every accessory. I used to follow him everywhere until the age of 25, when I went to work for Hubert Givenchy, in Paris. Suddenly, I realized that Mr.Givenchy and my father were very, very similar. Let me tell you an amusing story that happened while I was working at his company. At that time, I was supporting the sales campaigns. One evening, Hubert called me and asked how many raincoats we had sold. “Hubert,” I told him, “You won’t make history selling raincoats.” But that was their nature: They knew everything and wanted to be in control of everything. I started managing Pucci at 28, when, unfortunately, my father's health was dwindling. He passed away in 1992. I was not a creative person per se, but I’ve always had good intuition for business. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to have top clients who advised me on what they wanted. I've learned from them and slowly grew the business. In 2000, I consolidated a deal with LVMH and, by doing that, allowed the company to enter a global luxury arena. I stayed on for 21 years as a top executive, connecting past, present, and future.

Why did you start working on the archive?

When I entered Pucci in ‘85, nobody in the industry had acknowledged the importance of archives yet. For my father, the archive consisted of “his collections.” As the Palazzo in Florence was the business’ headquarters, from the early 50s onwards, large spaces and rooms allowed him to store so much of his early creations. Only in the early nineties did my mother hire an archivist and start working on an archive project. I became familiar with various collections through the years, and they were my starting point for every season. Every year, we kept adding more collections and therefore, more space was needed. In 2011, we decided to establish a private museum in Villa Granaiolo, in my family’s country residence, which also hosts a talent center.

Discover Laudomia's selection